Beverage container with handle

ABSTRACT

A beverage container is provided having a container main body and a handle portion attached thereto. The container main body has an upper portion with an aperture, a lower sidewall extending downwardly from the aperture, and an upper sidewall having a substantially cylindrical shape extending upwardly from the upper portion. The handle portion includes a grip portion, an attachment collar disposed on an upper handle portion, and a lower handle portion fastened to the container main body by a fastening member. The attachment collar may have an annular or curved shape that snugly fits around the upper sidewall of the container main body to attach the upper handle portion to the container main body.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to beverage containers having a handle.

BACKGROUND

Some beverage containers have a handle attached to a beverage containermain body for carrying the beverage container. The handle is typicallyattached to the beverage container main body by an upper connectorportion and a lower connector portion extending respectively from thetop and a bottom of the handle toward the beverage container main body.Each of the upper connector portion and the lower connector portion arefastened directly to a side of the beverage container main body using afastener, such as a screw or bolt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a top perspective view of a beverage containeraccording to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the beverage containerof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a handle the beverage containerof FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a top plan view of a handle of a beverage containeraccording to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a top plan view of a handle of a beverage containeraccording to a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A beverage container 10 according to a first embodiment is shown inFIG. 1. The beverage container 10 includes a substantially cylindricalcontainer main body 12 and a handle portion 14 fixedly attached to thecontainer main body. The container main body 12 has an upper portion 16with an aperture 18, and a lower sidewall 20 extending downwardly fromthe aperture 18 and defining a beverage cavity 22, as shown in FIG. 2.An upper sidewall 24 of the beverage container 10 has a substantiallycylindrical shape extend upwardly from the upper portion 16. The uppersidewall 24 may have a smaller diameter than the container main body 12.

The handle portion 14 has an elongated grip 26 for holding and carryingthe beverage container 10. A handle upper portion 28 laterally extendsfrom and connects an upper end portion of the grip 26 to the containermain body 12. A handle lower portion 30 of the grip 26 is directlyattached to the lower sidewall 20 by a fastening member 32. Thefastening member 32 of the present embodiment is a threaded bolt orscrew that extends through an aperture 33 on the handle lower portion 30and engages with a receptacle 34 on the lower sidewall 20; however,other methods of attachment are contemplated.

The handle portion 14 includes an attachment collar 36 for attaching thehandle upper portion 28 to the container main body 12. The attachmentcollar 36 of the present embodiment has an annular shape, as shown inFIG. 3, with an opening 36A sized to snuggly receive therein the uppersidewall 24 to help secure the handle portion 14 to the container mainbody 12, as described below. The diameter of the opening 36A isapproximately the same diameter as the outer diameter of a lower portion24L of the upper sidewall 24, which is adjacent to the upper portion 16.The attachment collar 36 includes a base portion 38 having a lowersurface 38A that abuts or is immediately adjacent to an upwardly facingledge wall surface 39 of the upper portion 16. The base portion 38 hasan upwardly projecting, inner circumferential surface 38B abutting orimmediately adjacent to an outer periphery of the lower portion 24L ofthe upper sidewall 24. The attachment collar 36 may include an upwardlyextending collar sidewall 40 which extends upward from the base portion38 and has an inner circumferential surface 40A that abuts or isadjacent to the outer periphery of the lower portion 24L of the uppersidewall 24. The handle portion 14 may include a rigid grip upperportion 42 extending laterally toward the container main body 12 thathelps to prevent the upper portion 28 from bending upwardly and therebyretains the position of the attachment collar 36 at the upper sidewall24 and positioned at the upwardly facing surface of the upper portion16. No second fastening member is required.

To assemble the beverage container 10, the attachment collar 36 of thehandle portion 14 is first positioned over an upper portion 24U of theupper sidewall 24 and then lowered so that the upper sidewall projectsthrough the opening 36A of the attachment collar 36. The attachmentcollar 36 is moved downwardly until the inner circumferential surface38B of the base portion 38 is immediately adjacent to or abutting theouter periphery of the lower portion 24L of the upper sidewall 24 and/orthe lower surface 38A of the base portion 38 is immediately adjacent toor abutting the upwardly facing surface 39 of the upper portion 16 ofthe container main body 12. Thereafter, the handle portion 14 is rotatedas needed to align the aperture 33 of the handle lower portion 30 withthe receptacle 34, and the fastening member 32 is then inserted into thereceptacle 34 and rotated to threadably attach the handle lower portion30 to the container main body 12. Attachment of the handle lower portion30 at the receptacle 34 helps to prevent the attachment collar 36 frommoving upwardly and away from the upwardly facing surface of the upperportion 16. The snug friction fit of the inner circumferential surface38B of the attachment collar 36 against the outer circumferentialsurface of the lower portion 24L of the upper sidewall 24 may help toprevent lateral movement of the handle portion 14 relative to thecontainer main body 12, and further helps to prevent upward movement ofthe attachment collar 36 relative to the upper portion 16. The beveragecontainer 10 using the handle portion 14 is simpler to assemble andrequires fewer parts for assembly than previously-implemented beveragecontainers because the beverage container 10 does not use a separatefastener to attach the handle upper portion 28 to the container mainbody 12.

In a second embodiment the attachment collar may have a semi-circularshape that only partially surrounds an outer circumferential surface ofthe upper sidewall 24, as shown in FIG. 4. A handle portion 44 accordingto the second embodiment includes an attachment collar 46 with a firstcollar arm 48 and a second collar arm 50, each projecting from a handleupper portion 52. The first collar arm 48 has a curved shape extendingfrom the handle upper portion and terminating at a first free end 49.The second collar arm 50 has a curved shape mirroring the shape of thefirst collar arm 48 and extending from the handle portion andterminating at a second free end 51. The first and second collar arms 48and 50 each extend partially about a circular path with a diameterapproximately the same diameter as the outer diameter of the lowerportion 24L of the upper sidewall 24. The arc length of the first collararm 48 is approximately equal to the arc length of the second collar arm50. The attachment collar 46 has an inner surface 54 extending betweenthe first end 49 and the second end 51 along an inner peripheral edge ofthe first collar arm 48 and the second collar arm 50. The inner surface54 is sized and shaped to snuggly fit around the upper sidewall 24 ofthe container main body 12 to retain the handle portion 46 thereon. Whenthe handle portion 44 is attached to the container main body 12, each ofthe first collar arm 48 and the second collar arm 50 extends along orabuts more than a quarter of the outer circumference of the uppersidewall 24. That is, the inner surface 54 of the attachment collar 46contacts more than half of the outer circumferential surface of thelower portion 24L of the upper sidewall 24.

In a third embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a handle portion 56 has a firstcollar arm 58 that is shorter than a second collar arm 60. The firstcollar arm 58 has a curved shape extending from a handle upper portion57 and terminating at a first end 59. The second collar arm 60 has acurved shape extending from the handle upper portion 57 and terminatingat a second end 61; however, the arc length of the second collar arm 60is greater than the arc length of the first collar arm 58. A first innerperipheral surface 62 of the first collar arm 58 contacts less than aquarter of the outer circumferential surface of the upper sidewall 24. Asecond inner peripheral surface 64 of the second collar arm 60 contactsmore than half of the outer circumferential surface of the uppersidewall 24. The first inner peripheral surface 62 and second innerperipheral surface 64, in combination, are sized and shaped to snugglyfit around the upper sidewall 24 of the container main body 12 to retainthe handle portion 56 thereon.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that,based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from this invention and its broader aspects and,therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope allsuch changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scopeof this invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that theinvention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will beunderstood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein,and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appendedclaims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.).

It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specificnumber of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intentwill be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of suchrecitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations). Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A beverage container comprising: a beveragecontainer body including a container lower portion having a beveragecavity and a container upper portion extending upwardly from thecontainer lower portion, the container upper portion having a containerupper portion passageway in fluid communication with the beverage cavityand terminating in an upper passageway opening; and a handle includingan attachment collar portion, a lower attachment portion and a gripportion extending between the attachment collar portion and the lowerattachment portion, the attachment collar portion extending at leastpartially about the container upper portion and the lower attachmentportion being attached to the container lower portion to secure the gripportion to the container body, the grip portion being spaced apart fromand extending along the container lower portion.
 2. The beveragecontainer of claim 1, wherein the container upper portion extendsupwardly above the attachment collar portion.
 3. The beverage containerof claim 1, wherein the lower container portion has at an upper endlaterally extending wall portion and the attachment collar portion has alower surface in supporting engagement with the laterally extending wallportion.
 4. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the attachmentcollar portion includes an annular collar base portion and an annularcollar sidewall portion extending upwardly from the annular collar baseportion, the annular collar sidewall portion being positionedimmediately adjacent to the container upper portion.
 5. The beveragecontainer of claim 4, wherein the container lower portion has at anupper end laterally extending wall portion and the annular collar baseportion is positioned immediately adjacent to the laterally extendingwall portion.
 6. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein thecontainer upper portion has an upwardly extending outer wall portion,and the attachment collar portion has an upwardly extending inner wallportion sized and shaped to be immediately adjacent to and engage theupwardly extending outer wall portion of the container upper portion tosecurely restrain the attachment collar portion against lateral movementrelative to the container upper portion.
 7. The beverage container ofclaim 1, wherein the attachment collar portion extends fully about thecontainer upper portion.
 8. The beverage container of claim 7, whereinthe attachment collar portion has an opening through which the containerupper portion extends, the opening being sized to snuggly receive thecontainer upper portion therein against relative lateral movementbetween the attachment collar portion and the container upper portion.9. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein handle includes aninterconnection portion extending between an upper end portion of thegrip portion and the attachment collar portion, and the attachmentcollar portion includes a first collar portion extending from theinterconnection portion in a first direction and which at leastpartially extends about a first portion of the container upper portionand a second collar portion extending from the interconnection portionin a second direction opposite the first direction and which at leastpartially extends about a second portion of the container upper portiondifferent from the first portion, in combination the first and secondcollar portions restrain the attachment collar portion against relativelateral movement between the attachment collar portion and the containerupper portion.
 10. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein the firstcollar portion and the second collar portion comprise a curved shapewith an arc length longer than half the distance about the containerupper portion.
 11. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein the firstand second portions of the container upper portion define a sidewallengagement portion of the container upper portion, and the first andsecond collar portions are in supporting engagement with the sidewallengagement portion.
 12. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein thefirst and second collar portions have the same length.
 13. The beveragecontainer of claim 9, wherein the first collar portion is longer thanthe second collar portion.
 14. A beverage container assembly,comprising: a beverage container body including a container lowerportion having a beverage cavity and a container upper portion extendingupwardly from the container lower portion, the container upper portionhaving a container upper portion passageway in fluid communication withthe beverage cavity and extending upwardly from the beverage cavity; anda handle including an upper attachment portion, a lower attachmentportion and a grip portion extending between the upper attachmentportion and the lower attachment portion, the upper attachment portionhaving an opening through which the container upper portion extends withthe upper attachment portion extending at least partially about thecontainer upper portion to restrain the upper attachment portion againstlateral movement relative to the container upper portion without use ofa fastener, the lower attachment portion being attached to the containerlower portion, the upper attachment portion and the lower attachmentportion securing the grip portion to the container body with the gripportion spaced apart from and extending along at least a portion of thecontainer lower portion.
 15. The beverage container assembly of claim14, wherein the container lower portion has at an upper end a laterallyextending wall portion and the upper attachment portion has a lowersurface in supporting engagement with the laterally extending wallportion.
 16. The beverage container assembly of claim 14, wherein theupper attachment portion includes a base portion and a sidewall portionextending upwardly from the base portion, the sidewall portion beingpositioned immediately adjacent to the container upper portion and atleast partially encircling the container upper portion.
 17. The beveragecontainer assembly of claim 16, wherein the container lower portion hasat an upper end a laterally extending wall portion and the base portionof the upper attachment portion is positioned immediately adjacent tothe laterally extending wall portion.
 18. The beverage containerassembly of claim 14, wherein the container upper portion has anupwardly extending outer wall portion, and the upper attachment portionhas an upwardly extending inner wall portion sized and shaped to beimmediately adjacent to and engage the upwardly extending outer wallportion of the container upper portion to securely restrain the upperattachment portion against lateral movement relative to the containerupper portion.
 19. The beverage container of assembly of claim 14,wherein the upper attachment portion extends fully about the containerupper portion.
 20. A method of making a beverage container comprisingthe steps of: providing a beverage container body including a containerlower portion having a beverage cavity and a container upper portionextending upwardly from the container lower portion, the container upperportion having a container upper portion passageway in fluidcommunication with the beverage cavity and extending upwardly from thebeverage cavity; providing a handle including an upper attachmentportion, a lower attachment portion and a grip portion extending betweenthe upper attachment portion and the lower attachment portion, with theupper attachment portion having an opening sized to snuggly receive thecontainer upper portion; extending the container upper portion throughthe opening of the upper attachment portion and into engagement with theupper attachment portion with the upper attachment portion extending atleast partially about the container upper portion to restrain the upperattachment portion against lateral movement relative to the containerupper portion without use of a fastener; and attaching the lowerattachment portion to the container lower portion such that the upperattachment portion and the lower attachment portion secure the gripportion to the container body with the grip portion spaced apart fromand extending along at least a portion of the container lower portion.21. The method of claim 20, further including providing the containerlower portion at an upper end with a laterally extending wall portionand the upper attachment portion with a lower surface, and positioninglower surface of the upper attachment portion in supporting engagementwith the laterally extending wall portion of the container lowerportion.
 22. The method of claim 20, further including providing theupper attachment portion with a base portion and a sidewall portionextending upwardly from the base portion, and positioning the sidewallportion of the upper attachment portion immediately adjacent to thecontainer upper portion.
 23. The method of claim 22, further includingproviding the container lower portion at an upper end with a laterallyextending wall portion, and positioning the base portion of the upperattachment portion immediately adjacent to the laterally extending wallportion of the container lower portion.
 24. The method of claim 20,further including providing the container upper portion with an upwardlyextending outer wall portion and the upper attachment portion with anupwardly extending inner wall portion, and positioning the upwardlyextending inner wall portion of the upper attachment portion immediatelyadjacent to and in engagement with the upwardly extending outer wallportion of the container upper portion to securely restrain the upperattachment portion against lateral movement relative to the containerupper portion.